How to create a corporate credit card policy (with what to include)

As your business grows and your team expands, managing expenses gets harder. If you’re allocating corporate credit cards to your employees, you need a clear policy that outlines usage rules, limits and allowable expenditure to set expectations and reduce potential risks.

Our handy guide outlines how to create a corporate credit card policy, what to include and how your card solution can help you enforce the rules.

What is a corporate credit card policy?

Essentially, a corporate credit card policy is a set of rules that govern who within a business gets a company card and how they can use it. This includes how much (and on what) they can spend, how expenditure is monitored and recorded, and what records must be kept.

This company credit card policy acts as a formal governance document that sets expectations, is enforceable and helps you better manage business credit card use.

Why your business needs a corporate credit card policy

Creating a corporate credit card policy gives you more control and accountability around your business expenses. In turn, your employees will understand the company’s expectations, reducing the risks of misuse, confusion and conflict.  

Control, accountability and reducing credit card misuse

Without a clear policy outlining staff card spending rules, employees won’t know where the lines are, in terms of spending limits and what is and isn’t deemed an allowable expense. Therefore, you’re exposed to potential misuse and disputes that are harder to address and validate.

Introducing a formal policy makes rules simpler to follow and enforce. It also sets clear expectations, which is good for both your business and its card users and helps you monitor and manage expenses more easily. 

You might think that a company credit card policy is only for certain types or sizes of businesses, but even those with only two or three cardholders can benefit from a written policy. In fact, for smaller, growing businesses, balancing cash flow is a major challenge. According to a 2025 study, 82% of SMEs have encountered cash flow difficulties. And overspending or lack of spending visibility can put further pressure on cash flow.

What to include in your card policy

With the benefits of creating a corporate credit card policy clear, you need to know what should be in your policy. Here are the key things to include in your policy and why they’re important:

1. Who gets a card (employee eligibility)

Firstly, decide who within your business should receive a company credit card. Establish the factors that influence eligibility and which roles or seniority levels qualify for a card. Then outline a process for requesting one for a new employee or newly qualified member of staff, and who approves the requests. 

2. Spending limits and categories

Once you’ve decided who qualifies, it’s time to put corporate credit card limits in place. This is an important part of expense management. Without spending controls, you’re leaving your business exposed. Just think of recent stories about companies not putting limits on AI software credits and racking up huge bills. Whether it’s software use or credit card spending controls, setting limits is crucial. 

When setting limits in your corporate credit card policies, consider per-card monthly limits and whether to vary them by role. You can also develop expense categorisation and add rules and restrictions around what the card can and can’t be used for. You can go further and write per-transaction limits, where relevant

It’s a good idea to have flexibility in your policy. So think about how often you should review the limits, so you can adjust them as your business grows and changes.

Having a business credit card that enforces your policy’s limits

Having a policy in place is important, but it’s even more effective if you have a credit card that works with you to track and enforce rules and controls. For example, Funding Circle’s Cashback business credit card lets you create and assign unlimited free employee cards and set limits and spend controls, backed by an easy-to-use app for real-time expense tracking.

3. Allowed and prohibited expenses

When building a corporate credit card policy template, it’s vital to be clear on what constitutes acceptable card use. List what card spend is in scope, such as:

• Eligible travel and accommodation

• Mileage/fuel

• Certain client or employee food and drinks

• Office supplies

• Software subscriptions

• Marketing/advertising

• Events, training and courses

You also need to include what is out of scope. Things like personal purchases, cash advances and unauthorised or disallowable entertainment and expenses.

Aside from what your company specifically wants credit cards used for, you should also make sure business card spending is for things that are "wholly and exclusively for business purposes". Research what HMRC deems allowable expenses (from a tax perspective). You may want to consult an accountant or tax professional to help you meet HMRC tax compliance.

4. Receipts and documentation requirements

As part of HMRC’s transformation roadmap, the UK government is modernising its systems and rolling out solutions to simplify reporting, tax submissions and recordkeeping. So, in turn, businesses need to improve their processes. 

The days of paper receipts are on their way out. You need to embrace digital tools for tracking expenses and submitting and maintaining records. 

In your employee credit card policy, add details on receipts and recordkeeping, and instructions for staff to submit expenses, including deadlines. Also, make it clear how long records must be kept. Currently, HMRC requires limited companies to keep accounting records for 6 years from the end of the relevant financial year. This includes receipts, invoices, mileage, bank and credit card statements, etc*. The rules vary slightly for sole traders and other entities, and there are exceptions, so check out HMRC’s guidance on company recordkeeping and brush up on your responsibilities before including details in your credit card policy.

*As long as paper records are scanned/digitised, the originals don’t necessarily need to be kept, but ensure you safely store and back up digital records to make them easy to access for auditing purposes.

5. Approval process for exceptions

There’ll always be grey areas and exceptions when managing business expenses, so your policy should have some wiggle room and fall-back steps. 

Consider the following questions when looking to manage exceptions within your card policy:

• What happens when spending above your limits or outside a disallowed category is deemed necessary, for whatever reason? 

• How will that be judged?

• Who should approve or disapprove these exceptions and in what timeframe?

• How will exceptions be documented?

As with general expenses, exceptions should be clearly documented, so as not to potentially skew your records. Verbal approval is not enough.

6. Consequences for misuse

While you’ll always run into exceptions, there’ll also be cases of card misuse. Your card policy should make clear the importance of sticking to the rules and the consequences of missteps. To do this, you need to decide what counts as misuse and what the business's response will be.

As with any company’s HR policy, there are rules about inappropriate behaviours and misuse of company privileges, and your employee credit card policy should too. In fact, when it comes to credit card misuse, the consequences are an HR matter. So, speak to your HR team to help you decide appropriate measures and wording, and what may also need to be included in their own policies, related to company credit card use (and misuse).

Putting your corporate credit card policy into practice

Once you’ve worked out what you need to include in your corporate credit card policy and put it into writing, it’s time to roll it out, enforce the rules and monitor card use. Let’s consider what this looks like in practice and how you can make your policy a success.

Using spend controls and real-time visibility to enforce it

A written policy is only as effective as the controls behind it. This requires digital support from your internal systems (including accounting tools) and credit card software.

You can introduce per-card limits and category controls within your business credit card provider’s account management features, so that out-of-scope spend can be flagged or blocked before it happens, rather than discovered during month-end reporting.

Also, many business credit card solutions, including Funding Circle’s app, give you a real-time view so you can actively monitor expenses. Digital controls make your policy easier to enforce and track while supporting your compliance efforts, so your activities are more auditable.

How Funding Circle's business credit card supports policy control

At Funding Circle, we aim to help small businesses manage their cash flow and expenses more easily with a credit card solution that works with you to make sure card policy is a success. 

With our Cashback business credit card, you can benefit from the following:

• Free unlimited employee cards

• Per-card spend controls

• Real-time transaction visibility

• Integrations with leading UK accounting software

• An easy-to-use digital app

Funding Circle’s brand new app puts your card policy in the palm of your hand. It gives you a full view over every card, so you can track spending, adjust card limits and manage employee spending with a single tap.

So, no more waiting for end-of-month statements to see how much you’ve spent. With Funding Circle, you can stay on top of your finances in real time, scale up or down, as required, and adapt faster, while having a clear view of the bigger picture.

What are the eligibility criteria for Funding Circle’s business credit card?

Our eligibility requirements are simple. You just need to be a UK-incorporated business (Ltd/LLP) that’s been trading for 12 months or more, with a £30k+ turnover. You can apply for a business credit card in minutes and get a rapid approval decision (often within an hour). 

Corporate credit card policy FAQs

What rules should be included in a corporate credit card policy?

It depends on your company’s spending activities. But at the very minimum, you should include rules around who qualifies for a card, spending limits (per card and/or per role), acceptable and prohibited expenses, receipt submission and documentation, and how to request and allocate cards for employees. You should also have clearly outlined processes for handling exceptions/disputes and the consequences of card misuse.

How do I implement an effective corporate card policy?

Start by establishing rules and validating them before putting them in writing. Back these up with internal processes and controls. A policy that exists only on paper (or in digital documents) relies on self-reporting and manual governance. But putting rules into practice and using your card solution to implement them (such as per-card limits and category controls) makes enforcing it easier.

Do small businesses need a corporate card policy?

Yes, ideally, as unclear information around credit card use and business expenses can affect companies of all sizes. Misunderstandings, misuse and disputes can cause both financial and reputational damage. Even for small businesses with just a few company cardholders, a formalised policy helps set clear expectations, reduce grey areas and makes it easier to address any issues that arise.

How do you enforce a card policy?

The most effective way to enforce a corporate credit card policy is to combine formal, written rules with in-built spending controls from your card provider. This means per-card limits, category restrictions and card allocation combined with technical fail-safes and real-time expense tracking. This aligns everything and reduces risks, ensuring non-policy spend is logged, flagged or even blocked before it happens.

Disclaimer

29/07/26 – While we want to help as much as we can, the information found here is provided solely for informational purposes and should not be considered financial or legal advice. To the extent permitted by law, Funding Circle does not accept any liability for any loss or damage which may arise directly or indirectly from the use of, or reliance on, the information contained here. All information is correct at time of publishing, and customers should do their own research before making financial decisions. If you have any questions, please speak to your professional adviser or seek independent legal advice.